IDAHO VOLLEYBALL: Players describe a ‘fear-based’ culture to investigators of coach Chris Gonzalez

Idaho volleyball coach Chris Gonzalez routinely pressured Vandals players who had not been cleared to play or practice by the school’s sports medicine staff to participate in matches, withheld pre-ordered food from players after losses, physically pushed players during practices, bullied and body shamed athletes and on multiple occasions touched players without getting prior permission from them, making the women uncomfortable, according to summaries of player interviews conducted by attorneys hired by the university to investigate the culture of the volleyball program under Gonzalez.

The interview summaries, obtained by the Southern California News Group, detail what one Idaho starter described as a “fear-based environment” created by Gonzalez and substantiate allegations first revealed in a SCNG report in December that prompted an expansion of a university-commissioned investigation.

Player interactions with Gonzalez, one starter told investigators, were “70% negative.” The summaries portray Gonzalez, the former U.S. national team coach who is 5-51 overall, 1-32 in Big Sky Conference play in two seasons at Idaho, as a coach who has failed to connect with his players and often lashed out in frustration. The Vandals have lost 24 consecutive Big Sky matches.

“He had ideas of how he wanted things done, but his explanations were confusing or incomplete,” middle blocker Emma Patterson told investigators. “He often did not explain the ‘how,’ just the result. He would get upset and frustrated when they did not understand and kick athletes out of drills.”

The summaries also detail how the players repeatedly voiced concerns to athletic director Terry Gawlik that Gonzalez and his staff were putting their physical safety and mental health at risk early in 2022-23 academic year but that Gawlik was dismissive toward them and their concerns.

Players said they have been told by attorneys for the Texas-based law firm conducting the investigation that the attorneys could turn over a report on the investigation to university officials by the end of the month.

A university spokesman said the school “most likely” would not release the investigation’s findings, citing employee and student privacy laws and guidelines.

Thompson & Horton attorneys have interviewed more than three dozen people, compiling more than 80 hours of interviews and also “reviewed information provided by players, coaches, other athletic staff and administrators,” according to an email to Idaho players from Holly G. McIntush, one of the attorneys conducting the investigation, interviews and other documents related to the probe.

Players detail in the summaries several instances where Gonzalez during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school made players play in games or practice despite not being cleared to participate in matches or practice by trainer Cait Brown even though an athlete handbook given to each Vandals player stated that Brown and the university’s sports medicine staff had the final say on whether a player could participate.

Gonzalez, Patterson told investigators, “did not care about their injuries. He would put athletes in the game regardless of clearance.”

Gonzalez’s ignoring Brown’s restrictions “put everyone in an uncomfortable position,” Patterson said. Brown confided to players that there were “some ‘pretty big instances’ of the coaches arguing with her during meetings about players’ status, injuries and recovery plans, according to summaries.

The tensions between Gonzalez and Brown “blew up” during a three-set loss at Montana on October 12, 2023, according to summaries.

Freshman setter Lacy Cox, according to a player interview summary, “had not been cleared for practice or games” because of a herniated disc.

Cox told a teammate the day before the team left for Montana that she had only been “cleared to start a slow reintroduction to practice,” according to a summary.

“The night they got to Montana was her first practice in four-to-five weeks,” a summary said. “The next day, she was told to wear her jersey to warm up. If you cannot go into a game because of injury, you do not wear a jersey. In the second set, Gonzalez told Cox to sub for someone even though she was still on movement restrictions.

“Brown told Cox not to go in at the next set and talked to the coaches.”

Players told investigators they saw Gonzalez and Brown “arguing on the sidelines.” Brown told players that “she said she would take the jersey away if Gonzalez was going to put Cox back in. Gonzalez said it was his choice and Brown was overstepping,” according to a summary.

“After that conversation, Brown was ‘pretty much crying.’ The following day, the coaches texted Brown to have a meeting and told a player “that the coaches said she made too many decisions without consulting the coaches first.”

A starter told investigators she “checked in with Cox after this incident, and she said she was uncomfortable with what happened and was in a lot of pain but felt like she could not say no.”

Cox declined to comment, citing the advice of her attorney.

Brown and Gonzalez did not respond to requests for comment.

“We continue to wait for the investigation to conclude and we continue to support our student-athletes” Gawlik said in a statement to SCNG.

Fourteen players were listed on the injury report at one point in the 2023 season.

“An insane amount,” Patterson told attorneys.

“Minor injuries that do not require any rehab are not on the injured list, so things like jammed fingers would not be listed unless there are limitations associated with them,” Patterson continued, according to her interview summary. “Having 14-of-18 athletes on the injury report meant that nearly the whole team was doing treatment/rehab.”

Patterson, a former Boise prep standout who transferred to Idaho from Alaska-Anchorage prior to the 2023 season, told investigators “the biggest” contributing factor to Idaho’s unusual amount of injuries was Gonzalez “not reviewing fundamentals and proper form enough.

“Additionally, many of the things Gonzalez asked the athletes to do are no longer practiced in volleyball,” the summary continued. “Patterson believes that the high number of knee and back injuries stemmed from the way Gonzalez asked them to dive and use their knees to protect themselves. It was improper hitting form. At UAA, the coaches would tell them they would ruin their career diving improperly and work with them to fix it. Here, Gonzalez is both teaching improper form and not correcting.”

Patterson “recalled one instance where Gonzalez was demonstrating something and tossed the ball to” libero Aine Doty “in such a way that she was required to go to the ground to get it. After Brown told Gonzalez that Doty could not dive due to” a back injury, “Gonzalez reacted by getting mad at Doty and telling her, ‘You are not supposed to be diving.’ But Patterson stated that the way he tossed the ball, there would be no other way to get it.

“She did not think Doty said anything to Gonzalez before he began the drill, but Patterson said it was ‘safe to say they all assumed he would not put her on the ground’ as he had been instructing them not to make her go to the floor in other drills. In another instance.”

Patterson also recalled how during a practice last season Gonzalez made freshman middle blocker Lily Hazzard keep diving for a ball even though she was crying from knee pain.”

Patterson said she later saw Hazzard “crying, and (assistant coach Romana) Kriskova was yelling at her to keep going. Kriskova told Hazzard it did not matter if it hurt; she needed to do the drill.”

Gonzalez’s lack of concern for their safety was reflected in other ways, players told investigators.

“At some recent practices, Gonzalez had his dog came in and let her run around. She would be running around their feet while doing a jumping drill,” according to an interview summary.

A starter told investigators that Anna Pelluer, a freshman on the 2022 Idaho squad “a prime suspect for his rudeness,” referring to Gonzalez and that “he picked on her a lot,” according to an interview summary. During one practice the player told investigators “she heard Gonzalez yell for Pelleur to get off the court, but Pelleur didn’t hear it, and he physically pushed her off the court.” Idaho players said Gonzalez’s push knocked Pelluer over. Pelluer, who transferred to Seattle Pacific after the 2022 season has not responded to requests for comment.

Athletes in the summaries portray Gonzalez as focused on players’ weight and their food intake. Gonzalez repeatedly made comments about player physiques, according to summaries. He described one player as “bottom heavy” and praised another for her “strong butt,” according to summaries.

“There was a lot of body shaming,” a starter told attorneys.

Players were not provided enough per diem to cover adequate meals or nutrition during travel trips and were forced to pay for meals themselves on a regular basis, according to the summaries. One player said she had to “supplement using her own money for pretty much every meal” when the team traveled.

“Food after the games was insufficient, and the coaches did not take it well,” the player said. “They told the players they should be grateful for what they got.”

A starter recalled “being asked to skip lunch because the coaches would prioritize gym time over lunchtime.”

“The players were often told” by the coaching staff, the starter said, “they ‘shouldn’t be hungry’ if they asked for more food.”

This, players told investigators, sent a chilling effect through the team.

During the 2023 season, players raised the issue of post-match food with Gonzalez and his staff. It is a common, if not universal, practice that schools provide athletes meals after athletic competitions, home or away, especially when those events are at night.

“The players were generally told food was ordered before the game,” according to a summary. “However, sometimes even when they knew food had been ordered, but they lost, no food was provided, and the players were too afraid to ask about it.”